LARGEST SOLAR POOL HEATING SYSTEM IN NORTH AMERICA
We first went south of the border for a Gold Metal installation in the summer Solstice edition of 1999, to the converted seventeenth century hacienda, Mision Juriquilla Park Plaza Resort.
Last summer’s Solstice featured the system installed at the beautiful Rosarita Beach Hotel in Baja, Mexico.
This year we go south of the border again. Aquatherm’s distributor Modulo Solar of Morelos, Mexico has to their credit a number of high profile solar pool heating installations. It was hard to pick just one for this year’s Gold Medals, so we chose three of their more interesting installations.
The first was installed December 2004 on the olympic pool at Instituto Politecnico Nacional, one of the largest universities in Mexico. This 704 collector system provides 70 to 75 percent of the energy required to maintain the pool at an average of 83F and is automatically controlled. It is believed to be the largest solar swimming pool heating system in Mexico.
Next we go to El Rollo Villages, the largest aquatic park in Mexico, who recently added a V.I.P area which includes 14 exclusive cottages each featuring its own private spa. The cottages were designed with solar in mind and were built with special roof areas for the solar collectors which also provide a shaded area at the back of the units. Each system consists of 5-4ft x 10ft collectors and are individually controlled. Modulo Solar designed the systems to maintain the spa water at an average of 93F, and according to the customer’s desires can be programmed to raise the temperature to 100F.
Club Alpha 4, one of the most important social clubs in Puebla, Mexico, selected Modulo Solar to design and install a solar system for their olympic pool. What makes this 256 collector system so unique is the hydraulic design and control system. The collectors were installed on a circular roof which meant that the collectors had different orientations. To reach higher efficiencies the solar array was divided into three zones, each having its own control system. According to the time of day, the control diverts water to the zone that is best orientated to the sun as it tracks across the sky. The owners are so pleased with the performance, they are preparing to have Modulo design and install a system for another club that they own.
Modulo Solar has been an Aquatherm distributor since 2001 and from this sampling of their work, the size of the system does not matter. Big or small they have the expertise and capability to do it in Gold Medal fashion.
